 OK,
when you put on "Silence", you'll want to relax, and put
your feet up on a Sunday afternoon. While you let the soothing vocal
harmonies wash over you like ocean waves, let me set this up for you…
I've
been seeing, more and more lately, some artists come out of the
urban genres. You know, R&B, hip hop, house… It's coming
from artists like Alex Boye, Thurl Bailey, and, of course, Gladys
Knight. It's pretty exciting to see on lots of levels. One is because
it lets the world know that we are a diversifying community. We're
not just white folks any more. And that really excites me.
TOA
is a group of Polynesian singers that are helping to build that
R&B and soul wing of the LDS music hall. I'm not sure where
they are from (like, which island), but the CD's credits show that
it was recorded in Hawaii. Their website, though currently under
construction, says that TOA means: "An ancient Polynesian term
meaning "Warrior", with the associated qualities of leadership,
strength, courage, endurance, patience, strategic thinking, adaptability
and collectivity."
What
follows as you listen is some seriously smooth R&B gospel singing.
The vocals that these five guys put out amazed me and lulled me
into comfort while giving me an encouraging gospel message. There's
a couple of songs toward the end that tried to get a little more
up-tempo, but not by much. This is a sit-down-and-relax CD, not
a get-up-and-boogie one. Unless, maybe, you want to slow dance with
your honey on a Sunday afternoon…
Three
of the tunes really stood out to me, especially. One was the title
track, "Silence". There were some really cool rhythmic
things happening in the track, and the way the vocal layered over
it sounded almost reggae. It was completely fresh.
And
it just kept on being original and new. Another one of my favorites
was their rendition of "The Lord is My Shepherd". It's
the same traditional melody we sing in Sacrament Meeting, but with
R&B harmonies. Still respectful of the text, though. There was
nothing sacrilegious here. There was a guest singer on this one,
too, a girl with an incredible voice. It didn't outshine the boys,
though. They hold their own.
"One
Song" was one that grabbed me right away. It had an easy minor
feel to it with a melody that drew me in right away. This one had
a very "Boyz II Men" urban sound to it.
There
were a couple that were sung in one of the Polynesian languages.
One was a version of "I am a Child of God". Not knowing
the language, it felt odd to hear it that way. The other was titled,
"Lo Ta Nu'u". It felt as if it had been originally written
in the language, rather than forcing translated syllables into a
traditional melody.
When
I first saw that they had done "Never a Better Hero",
my first thought was, "do we really need another version?"
But this one had some cool variations in the vocal harmonies that
I'd never heard before. I like that they were able to explore new
ground on an old standard of the LDS culture.
Overall,
I was impressed. It was soft and smooth, but not dull and trite.
It was different from what we normally get as LDS pop goes. Well
worth checking out. Four stars.
------------------------
Mark Hansen
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